'Idle No More' Native human rights movement stirs rally in Las Cruces

By Andi Murphy / amurphy@lcsun-news.com

Posted:
01/28/2013 02:28:07 PM MST

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Dr. Jennie M. Luna, professor of womenÕs studies at New Mexico State University, offers a blessing to her students Monday, including: Mariah Tallent, left, Valerie Uribe, Jessica Mu oz and Victoria Villalobos during an Idle No More rally in front of Corbett Center Student Union on campus.

LAS CRUCES — Undeterred by the howling winds Monday, a group gathered outside of the Corbett Student Center on the NMSU campus to rally for Idle No More, a national movement led by the indigenous people of Canada.

"It's about human rights, indigenous rights," said Dr. Don Pepion, a member of the Blackfeet tribe, and an NMSU anthropology professor. "You can learn something in class, but until you do something, those are just words."

Pepion spoke in the middle of a circle of participants where a clay bowl held smoking sage. Several students, staff and others held Idle No More signs and some had hand drums. For the occasion they wore their Native jewelry, moccasins or T-shirts with printed indigenous designs.

Idle No More is a movement that started in Canada with the First Nations tribes, Pepion explained. It's a rally against Canada Bill C-45, a bill that will allow the Canadian government to tap into fresh bodies of water, make changes to environmental protection and certain treaty rights.

The movement started as Chief Teresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation stood up and demanded that the Canadian parliament, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, have a meeting with the indigenous leaders to discuss indigenous sovereignty and bill C-45. She started a hunger strike on Dec. 11 and recently ended it Thursday, according to media coverage.

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From there the rally took off on social media and turned into a movement that includes many issues, such as protecting the environment, native women's rights, indigenous rights, awareness of tribal sovereignty and it includes everyone, not just Native Americans. There have been similar rallies in nearly every major city in North America, near every Native American reservation, in Albuquerque, Farmington, Gallup and Shiprock in New Mexico.

"It's about education," said Dr. Jeanette Haynes Writer, NMSU interim department head of curriculum and instruction and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, told Monday's crowd. "Remember our women, remember our Mother Earth It's a point of being present in the world; no longer being invisible for indigenous peoples. And standing in solidarity among all people because we all live in the world."

As the rally neared the end, drummers picked up in a round dance song, a common powwow song representing togetherness and friendship. Those in attendance shuffled in a circle to the beat.

"This is my effort to do something to not be idle," said Jennie Luna, Mexican-American and Caxcan (indigenous Mexican tribe), organizer and instructor of the women's studies class. "Our goal is to bring awareness to the issues that are happening in Canada We need to clean up our water and we need to think about what we're doing because if we don't have water, we have nothing."

Andi Murphy can be reached at 575-541-5453; follow Andi on Twitter @andimurphy.